Sezer celebrates Christmas holiday of Turkish Christians
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Monday issued a Christmas message which has became a presidential tradition since 9th President Suleyman Demirel.
“I would like to celebrate the Christmas holidays of our Christian citizens. Events that took place in the first year of the new millennium revealed that communication and mutual understanding between religions has became a necessity in the globalized world,” Sezer stated.
Sezer stated that the hatred and suspicion that people felt towards the others are due to lack of communication.
The terrorist attacks against targets in the United States on Sept. 11, were feared to fuel emnity between Christians and Muslims. After the attacks, the U.S. and British forces started an offensive in Afghanistan in order to capture Osama Bin Ladin, the number of suspect attacks which claimed the lives of thousands of people in the Twin Towers of New York.
“The events showed that the reason that lies beneath the terror that threatens contemporary civilization and basic values of humanity, is not the conflict between religions but the lack of understanding and goodwill as well as fundamentalism,” Sezer said.
Sezer said that Turkish society derived its power from the solidarity and tolerance between its Muslim, Christian and Jewish people.
“Turkey is an example country with this characteristic. Turkey, the birth place of a number of civilizations including Christian civilizations, is looking to the future with hope with this tradition and social structure,” Sezer added.
Ankara – Turkish Daily News